It's graduation party time / Events getting bigger, more elaborate

Friday

Jun 2, 2006 at 1:00 AM

Andrew Waldman

By ANDREW WALDMANT-G Staff WriterOpen house normally connotes a gathering of several dozen people, complete with reminiscing over finger foods in family rooms.It also brings to mind a showcasing of ones home connected to an event of substantial importance in the familys history a birth, promotion or graduation are all good examples of open house occasions. The graduation open house celebrating the completion of high school is a monster of its own. In recent years, the parties held by parents for their children have escalated in popularity and profile far beyond the simple family get-together to being a function inclusive of family, friends, teachers, administrators and acquaintances.Parties range from a home gathering with hot dogs and hamburgers to large-scale events. In Montana, two high schools have all-night parties designed to curb alcohol use during the graduation season. Around Ashland County, high school graduation partiers will get their fill of food and fun this season. Some area students are enjoying the beginning of their summers with enough free food to last a month. I had quite a few (parties) this year, said Hillsdale senior Kevin Obrecht. I think I probably am going to about 10.Obrecht said he was having a party because he wanted to get his family and friends together. I wanted to have a party, he said. It was nice to get all my friends together and have some fun.Partiers often come with greeting cards wishing the student well in college or at his or her new job. And a lot of those cards come with something extra.I got a lot of cards at my party, said Obrecht. Some of them had some money in them, too.Most seniors have cookouts at their homes with hot dogs and hamburgers, Obrecht said. But there are other parties in the area that defy that standard. Scott Heimann got his guests moving at his party Thursday. Heimann had his party at the recently dedicated Ashland University Recreation and Sports Sciences Center. Scotts mother, Sue, is a dean at the university. She was responsible for setting up the party for Scott. We asked him what he wanted to do for his graduation party, and thats what he said, Sue said. Like normal parents, we did what he wanted.Sue said the golf simulator, game room, basketball court and volleyball court were open for the evening. Any person can reserve the space for an outside group for a fee, and thats what we did, she said.The Heimanns provided pizza, veggies and cookies for the party. Other families prefer to have parties at their homes, but bring in extra equipment to accommodate large groups of visitors. Kelly Dull of RSVP Party Rentals said the business has been busy filling chair, tent and table rentals for the past two weeks. Weve got about 10 graduations going on, said Dull. Weve gotten hundreds of calls from people needing stuff at the last minute that weve had to turn away.Dull said rental for chairs and tables vary in size. Most people request between 50 and 150, she said. RSVP also supplies balloon bouquets for parties. Dull estimates theyve done about 20 this weekend. Food is an important part of any party, and families often get their event catered. Sallie Shank of Celebrations by Sallie! said her crew is catering many graduation parties this year. We have four this weekend and had six last weekend, she said. We book up in January for graduations, but people call up until the day of the party.Celebrations by Sallie! allows the customer to choose what they want on their menu for the party. This year, picnic food is popular, but the caterer has gotten orders for full meals, as well. Were doing an Italian dinner this weekend, she said.Costs for the meals can be high. Shank said she gets orders for up to 200 people. Meals range in price from $6 to $10 each. Each menu is custom ordered by the client, said Shank. They pick out their own menu. Dull said she has seen growth in graduation parties in the last few years. It really has grown, she said. Its amazing how much people are willing to spend on these parties. Its almost like planning a wedding. People are making them big.n Contact Andrew Waldman at 419-281-0581, ext. 243, or by e-mail at awaldman@times-gazette.com.